Have you enjoyed a Honeycrisp apple today?

If you’ve visited Pass the Torch regularly in the past year, you’ve read quite a bit about my daughter’s neighborhood book club project, BookWorm Wednesday. This social entrepreneurial effort has opened many doors for Darla, and generated attention for her helper “BookWorm Wednesday Divas” as well.

Two weeks ago, the team of four welcomed more than 15 neighborhood children to the kickoff BookWorm Wednesday gathering. They enjoyed a book, lawn games and ice cream sundaes. This year the participants will take turns bringing snack, also, which may offer welcome relief to the lame animal crackers we provide;)

And just last week, I received a phone call from a regional television producer, asking if she could bring her camera crew to our home this Wednesday. They’d like to feature Darla’s project.

Everyone’s a little excited about the prospect. Stay tuned!

BookWorm Wednesday Series:

A Teacher in the Making
A BookWorm Wednesday Halloween
BookWorm Wednesday Potion Recipe
My Daughter Won the Kohl’s Kids Who Care Scholarship
Buy with Amazon and Donate to BookWorm Wednesday
BookWorm Wednesday Gets Some Press
BookWorm Wednesday Featured

Other Torch-Passers:
March of Dimes - Youth Matter
A Little Mommy

What does passing the torch mean to you? Is it teaching? Passing traditions? Doing the right thing? Or good news about youth?

Join us each week for Pass the Torch Tuesday.

Former PTT posts.

During our family’s recent trip to Washinton DC, we witnessed beautiful views of the memorials and monuments, on a bright and hot day.  Here we waited for our turn to ascend the Washington Monument. This view is toward the Capitol building.

This is the exact opposite view - toward the WWII Memorial Fountain, the reflecting pond and Lincoln Memorial.

Here we paused to read the inscription at the WW II Memorial Fountain.

And once we reached the Lincoln Memorial we turned and looked at the route we’d walked. If you look carefully you can see the alignment of the Lincoln Memorial, Reflecting Pond, Washington Monument and Capitol.

Washington DC series:
View from Washington Monument
Mount Vernon
National Archives - Declaration of Independence
Sculpture Gardens
Arlington Cemetery - Unknown Soldier
Washington DC Subway - Metro

My nine-year old boy, is a very nine-year-old, very boy.

He doesn’t especially like baths, is typically opposed to brushing his hair, and although he’ll do whatever I ask of him - it usually takes him three trips down the hall to remember what the task was.  For any objective that doesn’t relate specifically to his radar-interests like 4-wheeling or rockhounding, he’s far from organized.

But recently, I’ve witnessed a new side to my very nine-year-old boy.  In June, at the end of the school year, his orthodontist informed us that he would need an expander in his upper jaw, to correct his bite.  Darla had an expander at his age as well, so he was aware of what it meant — a metal and plastic device would be cemented to his upper molars for the better part of a year.

Darla mentored him well when it came time to fit the expander:  “The play-dough stuff doesn’t taste good, but it won’t take long.  And when Mom cranks the expander every night, it feels weird, but doesn’t really hurt.”

He took it all like a trooper - the “play-dough” mouth form used to mold the expander, the gluing it in, the “cranks” that expand the jaw.  But what has impressed me more than any of this, is the way he’s approached the next level of his treatment.  Unlike Darla, he needs to wear a face mask every night and band his upper jaw to the face mask to pull it forward, leveraging the mask against his forehead and chin.  He was told very clearly that the only way to complete the 11-month treatment in time, is to wear the mask every night for at least 10 hours per night.  He can take breaks for sleep-overs, but that’s about it.

So far, he’s completed nearly three months of the eleven months he’ll need to wear the mask.  He has never complained during any of the treatment.  Never refused to wear the face mask.  Never whined about what must be a major annoyance.  And he’s almost never even needed me to remind him to put it on at bedtime.  He’s only asked to skip a night here and there because he has a canker sore or a skin irritation where the rubber bands hit his lip.

And so this year-long treatment which I assumed would be so stressful - has not been.  And my son - who typically needs so much attention to get his ducks in the same county - has decided his dental health is a priority.

With children, wonders never cease.

Other torch-passers
Candid Karina - When I was Ten
Citizenship Foundation - 14 Year-Old Wins London Peace Award

What does passing the torch mean to you? Is it teaching? Passing traditions? Doing the right thing? Or good news about youth?

Join us each week for Pass the Torch Tuesday.

Former PTT posts.

(I met the very talented Debba Haupert when she asked to do this podcast interview with me as a part of my book tour. She’s an inspiring business woman and an awesome ambassador for the value of girlfriends!)

Guest blog by Debba Haupert, Girlfriendology.com

Allison, Dana, Jill, Katie, Lisa, Amy, Holly, Terri … just some of the many reasons I started Girlfriendology. My friends mean the world to me. They’re my chosen family, my confidants and advisors, they make me laugh and sometimes cry, and they stand by me, like I do them, through thick and thin.

But where did it really start? (I get asked that a lot!) Maybe it was moving around so much when I was growing up. I always missed my girlfriends when we moved and wanted to stay behind to be with them. Perhaps it was college and my roommates and friends with whom I bonded, grew and learned life with.

But the specific point at which I recognized that I actually needed my friends wasn’t quite so fun. My college girlfriend Dana found out she had cancer. Then another friend, Allison got the same diagnosis. Fortunately both are fighters and strong survivors, but when that news first hit me – it hit me hard. It made me want to spend time with my other girlfriends – to learn from each of them how to care for my girlfriends who were facing fears I can’t comprehend. It caused me to appreciate all of them even more. And it actually made me stop to consider why my friends became so important to me. Continue Reading »